PNCR must address challenges urgently or risk continued decline

Dear Editor,

Now that the 2025 General and Regional Elections (GRE) have ended, with the PPP/C returning to office, I have taken some time to analyse the issues confronting the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). Unless these challenges are addressed urgently, the party risks continued decline and political irrelevance. The resignations and defections witnessed since 2020, and again after GRE 2023 and 2025, are unprecedented in our history.

Following the tenure of Cde. Robert Corbin, the PNCR entered a new phase under Cde. David Granger, who successfully led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in the 2011 General and Regional Elections. This coalition was later strengthened through the Cummingsburg Accord with the Alliance For Change (AFC), signed on February 14, 2015. That agreement paved the way for the historic APNU+AFC victory in the May 2015 General and Regional Elections. Under his stewardship, the party also upheld its Constitution, ensuring General Council meetings were held and Biennial Delegates Congresses (BDC) convened.

During its tenure, the Coalition Government achieved notable accomplishments without oil revenues, including salary increases of up to 77% for certain categories of public servants and the reduction of VAT to 14%. These remain verifiable and indisputable. It is therefore unjustifiable for some to blame Mr. Granger for APNU’s 2025 loss, given that he demitted leadership in July 2021.

At the long-awaited 20th Biennial Delegates Congress in December 2021, Cde. Aubrey Norton was elected Leader, and he was returned unopposed at the 21st Biennial Delegates Congress in June 2024, despite unresolved grievances from contenders. As General and Regional Elections 2025 approached, efforts were made to build another coalition. Many Osiris supporters, and even sections of our own base, expressed preference for a coalition government. The failure to unify, however, allowed the PPP/C to retain office and gave WIN a pathway to prominence at our expense.

Now, three weeks after elections, calls are mounting for Cde. Norton to step aside and for a Special Congress to elect interim leadership until the 2026 Biennial Delegates Congress. If this is not addressed, the hemorrhaging of members will continue, weakening the PNCR further ahead of 2026.

As the saying goes, every steward must give account of their stewardship. The time has come to stop the blame game and instead put our shoulders to the wheel. A Special General Council must be convened urgently to:

• Ensure strict adherence to the Party’s Constitution.
• Strengthen constituency engagement to reclaim our support base.
• Rebuild confidence in leadership through transparency and accountability.
• Prioritize youth and women’s involvement to broaden the party’s appeal.
• Reopen coalition-building conversations to create a viable path to governance.

The PNCR remains a mass-based political organisation, but it must modernize, unite, and mobilize if it is to survive and lead again. Guyana needs a strong and credible opposition, and the PNCR must rise to that responsibility.

Yours truly,
Annette Ferguson